Max no time due to rain in final free practice French GP
Published on 23 June 2018 by Mike Motilall
The third and final free practice for the French Grand Prix has quite literally been rained out. Right before the start of the session the doors of the Heavens opened up after which the drivers were reluctant to head out on track to put the pedal to the metal. Instead they opted to take no risks and save their cars for qualifying.
In the first ten minutes of final practice, when the track was still dry, Valtteri Bottas was the quickest with a 1:33.666. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc clocked the second and third fastest time. Max Verstappen, who went out on track the moment it really started to pour, only managed to get three laps done with no time on the clock. In those three laps, the Dutchman noticed how slippery the track was when he briefly went off track in Turn eight. However, he was able to continue on without any damages. In the closing stages of the session, a handful of drivers took to the track to get a feeling for the car in the wet.
Qualifying will start at 16.00 hrs. local time and there is a possibility that it will start raining again.
Results third free practice France:
| pos | driver | team | time | gap | laps | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valtteri Bottas | BOT | Mercedes | 1:33.666 | 3 | |
| 2 | Carlos Sainz | SAI | Renault | 1:34.953 | +1.287s | 3 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | LEC | Sauber Ferrari | 1:35.012 | +1.346s | 5 |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso | ALO | McLaren Renault | 1:36.365 | +2.699s | 4 |
| 5 | Sebastian Vettel | VET | Ferrari | 1:36.756 | +3.090s | 5 |
| 6 | Stoffel Vandoorne | VAN | McLaren Renault | 1:37.547 | +3.881s | 4 |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly | GAS | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 1:38.317 | +4.651s | 5 |
| 8 | Marcus Ericsson | ERI | Sauber Ferrari | 1:38.450 | +4.784s | 3 |
| 9 | Sergio Perez | PER | Force India Mercedes | 1:39.641 | +5.975s | 4 |
| 10 | Daniel Ricciardo | RIC | Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer | 1:39.738 | +6.072s | 3 |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon | OCO | Force India Mercedes | 1:40.087 | +6.421s | 4 |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton | HAM | Mercedes | 1:40.743 | +7.077s | 3 |
| 13 | Kimi Räikkönen | RAI | Ferrari | 1:49.711 | +16.045s | 3 |
| 14 | Lance Stroll | STR | Williams Mercedes | 2:02.399 | +28.733s | 4 |
| 15 | Sergey Sirotkin | SIR | Williams Mercedes | 2:04.093 | +30.427s | 5 |
| 16 | Kevin Magnussen | MAG | Haas Ferrari | --- | 1 | |
| 17 | Brendon Hartley | HAR | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | --- | 3 | |
| 18 | Romain Grosjean | GRO | Haas Ferrari | --- | 1 | |
| 19 | Nico Hulkenberg | HUL | Renault | --- | 2 | |
| 20 | Max Verstappen | VER | Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer | --- | 3 |
